How did I experience the kidnapping and safe release of two colleagues and what did I learn from it?
Positive Minds | Positive Stories | Edition 030
On Wednesday, 11 May 2022, two International Rescue Committee (IRC) vehicles were attacked by armed men. The driver of one of the vehicles was shot and the driver and a colleague in the second vehicle were kidnapped.
On Thursday 19 May 2022, our two colleagues were released safe, marking the end of a 9-day ordeal for them, their families, relatives and colleagues. We praise the Lord.
I give a flashback to those 9 days of captivity and suffering of our two colleagues and how I experienced them.
First, let's start with my motivation to write publicly about this incident. It all started with a casual conversation with a counterpart country director of an international NGO in the DRC.
My counterpart: Hello Adama, I don't know how you managed to get your two colleagues released safely and achieve this happy ending, but I thought you might be a resource person in case another INGO was faced with a similar situation.
Me: Of course. I would be happy to be a sounding board and a resource person. Having said that, I rather wish that no organisation or leader would face such an unfortunate situation and deal with it.
My counterpart: Oh how I join you in wishing that I didn't have this experience in my team... But Noah built his Ark before the Deluge.
"Noah built his Ark before the Deluge" triggered a lot of questions for me. I list two of them here:
Noah built his Ark to save humanity from a planetary deluge. Why do INGOs build their ark to save only their staff in case of a deluge (making the parallel with kidnapping)?
Noah's Ark was built in plain sight, with everyone contributing and working as a team. Why do INGOs keep all the details of their Ark's construction top secret, even after the deluge has ended? In other words, why don't we share with others how we handled critical incidents, such as the kidnapping of employees, so that our sector can learn from them?
After my conversation with my counterpart, I decided to break the rule and share my experience with others, while preserving the privacy of our kidnapped colleagues and the confidentiality of this case.
Now let's talk about the incident. Summarising 9 days of adrenaline-fuelled crisis management in a 5-minute blog is not an easy task. Fortunately, we have metaphors to convey our key messages concisely and simply.
Let's start with the crisis management committee: choosing between being lions or being giant ants.
Lions and giant ants have similar characteristics: they are fierce and feared. But the similarities end there.
Lions are arrogant, undisciplined, and very often lonely. Their arrogance, indiscipline and loneliness often cost them their lives and put their families and loved ones at risk.
Unlike lions, giant ants are united, disciplined and known for their unparalleled teamwork. Attack one, and you have the whole horde on your tail.
When a lion hunts, it always adopts the same strategy. Wait patiently under the woods. Wait until the prey is within range. Leaping from its hiding place like a rocket and taking advantage of the surprise effect to bring down its prey with a claw or fang. But this strategy has a success rate of barely 20%, which is why the lion can go hungry for 5 to 7 days and risk dying.
Giant ants do not have a single strategy. They adapt their strategy to the situation and the prey or the predator, and they adapt very quickly. Defeat is not an option for them. When they go hunting or searching for food, it is to bring back something to eat in the end and to build up a reserve.
As a crisis management committee, we have chosen to be giant ants. We have adopted all their qualities: solidarity, discipline, teamwork, interdependence, complementarity, alertness, agility, proactivity, sharing of roles and responsibilities, and above all, unwavering trust in each other.
How to manage communication and contain rumours: choosing between a broadsheet newspaper and a tabloid.
Broadsheet newspapers are longer, have more articles and have longer frequencies. Published articles go through a rigorous and centralized review and editing process to be validated and published. By the time they are published, the information disseminated, although relevant, is no longer current. Their target audience is the wealthy classes of the population, often close to the centres of power and decision-making. In our jargon, these are SitReps sent to the region and to HQ at an agreed frequency. The target group is the organisation's senior managers and executives; the elite.
Unlike broadsheets, tabloids are 'small newspapers' containing condensed stories that are easily digested by readers daily. They follow the course of current events and publish "Breaking News" when necessary. Tabloid readers are traditionally from the working classes. In our jargon, these are e-mail updates sent regularly to all staff; the mass population of the organisation.
When it came to communicating about the crisis, we chose to be tabloids but with a large dose of 'ethical journalism'. We made "flash updates", our equivalent of "breaking news", when necessary. Daily updates were sent to staff and other external stakeholders such as UNOCHA, INSO (International NGO Safety Organisation) and the Forum of international NGOs in DRC. And when necessary, we organised an all-staff meeting and answered questions live, i.e. a 'press conference'.
Throughout the management of the incident, our communication motto was "create and maintain hope and positivism". We lived by this motto from day 1 to day 9 of the kidnapping. We kept the flame of hope alive with the firm belief that our two colleagues would be released safely.
But for me, the bedrock for dealing with and overcoming this crisis has been prayer in compassion and unity.
Even though I cannot see or touch Him, I am firmly convinced that a Supreme Being watches over our destiny: God, the Almighty and the Most Merciful. In dealing with this crisis, I also realised -not surprisingly- that most of my colleagues in the IRC share this conviction. The evidence: when I informed the staff about the safe release of Pacifique and Clement, all the messages I received from them began with three words: Praise the Lord.
And I repeat, "Praise the Lord" for watching over our two colleagues during their captivity and bringing them safely back to their families. "Praise the Lord" for guiding and advising us through these trying times, without breaking down and without doubting the happy outcome for a single second. "Praise the Lord" for allowing us to deal with the crisis with compassion in unity and prayer.
Together, we were able to deal with this incident and overcome it because we chose to be giant ants, not lions; to communicate like tabloids, not broadsheets newspapers; and above all, to do all this with compassion in unity and prayer.
On a more personal level, I went through all sorts of emotions... sometimes contradictory, sometimes simultaneous but never in conflict.
Fear all the time, especially whenever the kidnappers threatened to hurt Pacifique or Clement.
Compassion for the families of our two staff members and all our other staff, including those at the community level who have been affected by this incident as much as we have been.
Then you realise that the right to know and the duty of care go far beyond the inner circle of staff and their families. You are also accountable to the wider circle.
Doubt when a well thought out and planned strategy instantly falls apart because someone failed to follow the script in the heat of the moment.
Firmness and rage when people fail to follow the communication protocol and endanger the kidnapped staff.
The pride for working with exceptional and talented colleagues on the incident management committee.
Finally the relief of seeing our two colleagues released, of seeing them in the flesh, standing on their two feet and in high spirits. At that very moment, I said again: ."Praise the Lord
Oops! I was about to forget something super important: the enabling role of the region and HQ, and in particular your line manager. If you happen to manage a critical incident, be aware that organisational policies, procedures and processes can quickly become your worst nightmare, especially if your line manager strictly goes by the book and wants to cover his or her back in case things go wrong; and indeed, things could and do go wrong.
Fortunately for me, my line manager is not one of them. She let the country team take the driver's seat and the region on the back seat for support. She is the perfect illustration of the saying: 'Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise people'.
She protected us from demands and disruptions in the organisation. As soon as she was informed of the incident, the message to the rest of the organisation was clear:
Leave the IRC team in DRC alone, I have full confidence in the country management to handle this critical incident. From this moment on, the management of the incident is their one and only priority. Everything else will be de-prioritised. If you need anything or have any questions, just ask me.
Her name is Kate Moger. Thank you for your confidence in me and my team.
What about you? Have you ever managed a critical incident? And if so, what did you learn from it that could be useful to me and others?
